Originally Posted by
burnthesheep
BF already went thru this piss and moan. I'm not giving you a hard time, just an FYI.
Basically the easiest answer is "it depends". Yes they could. Perhaps they aren't. Only they know for sure.
Part of it also is assuming a person's intention of use. You can't presume they use one for exercise. Maybe it's a car avoidance thing, not using a car to/from your favorite park or local eating place or something.
My only last hangup these days is folks clearly using them as a "liquor cycle" pronounced liquor-sickle to either get by after a DUI or because they're actively drinking and riding the e-bike OR their weird one-wheel between each bar on the route. Which is a wholly unacceptable use of municipal trails.
As long as they aren't riding dangerously it shouldn't be an issue. Some of your "liquor cyclists" ride way more than your average roadie. last year I was chatting with this alcoholic who was homeless adjacent, and he told me about a bike he had with a 9 tooth cog and helped me with my bike fit (told me to lower the seat because my knee was messed up.) As far as cyclists are concerned people on bikes are better than people in cars, and ebikes are like 75+% of the workout of a normal bike.
Honestly bikes are super efficient on flats and downright overpowered on downhills, we shouldn't talk trash on ebikes because we are cheating too. Jogging everywhere is the real move if youre trying to be fit